1. The Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a device for removing lacquer-based polishes, such as fingernail polish, from textiles, such as carpet, and a method of doing the same. Specifically, the present illustrated embodiment(s) involve(s) the use of a vapor transfer device to direct solvent vapors over a lacquer based residue on a textile.
2. The Relevant Art
Lacquer based polishes and/or paints (“residues”) have historically been a bane to the existence of carpet owners. This is primarily due to the fact that these polishes and/or paints, such as fingernail polish, contain resins that form hard residues when allowed to dry. When left to dry on a textile, such as carpet, the extraction of these resins can be extremely difficult and potentially damaging to the textile itself.
Under the typical and well-known polish extraction techniques, a variety of solvents may be poured over the affected area in order to dissolve and soften the residue. A commonly recognized aspect of this process is to ensure that the solvent remains in continuous contact with the residue in order to fully dissolve the same. However, prolonged contact of the solvent with the textile may cause a latex adhesive or similar fabric backing to delaminate. This is a common problem resulting from applying such solvents to carpets because typical latex adhesives that bind carpet fibers to the carpet backing material can be degraded relatively quickly by overexposure to the solvent.
Many of the solvents suitable for dissolving lacquer-based compounds are volatile. These solvents tend to evaporate before they have had sufficient contact time with the affected area and the dissolution process fails. Furthermore, many of these volatile solvents are flammable, which makes suction of the solvent into non-spark proof wet vacuums dangerous. As a result, methods utilizing volatile solvents typically involve blotting or rubbing the treated area, which are much less effective and much more labor intensive than suction techniques.
Thus, it can be clearly recognized that there is a need for a device for removing lacquer-based residues from textiles, such as carpet, that does not damage the affected textile, and a method for accomplishing the same.